Vignettes
by Lovely White Violets
Summary: A series of oneshot photographs of relationships between the Teen Titans. Part 5 Beast Boy and Raven, on the beach. Belated Valentine's Day tribute
1. Part 1: The Kiss

Title: Vignettes

Genre: General/Romance

Pairings: Cannon for me (see Author's Notes)

Rating: PG-13

Summary: A series of one-shot photographs of relationships between the Teen Titans.

Disclaimer: Don't own the Teen Titans.

Author's Notes: "Vignettes" to me are like the writer's version of an artist's photographs. They're snapshots of the Titans' lives.

I guess the idea of "Vignettes" came out of my penchant for never finishing stories longer than one shots (i.e. "Beast Boy's New Trick"), and I tend to get inspiration in spurts where there's this one really great scene that I want to write, but it has no context. Sometimes, I get lucky, and can fit a whole story around that one scene; most of the time, I can't. So, they become blurbs that never get aired, but stay on my hard drive, collecting proverbial dust. I think they're kind of cool, and sometimes, you don't really need the whole context to get the gist of the emotion. So, I decided to just post them for the hell of it.

Cannon romance for me, by the way, is: Raven/BB, Robin/Star, Cy/Whoever (probably Jinx now that "Deception" has aired). I also like writing Starfire/Raven friendship fics, and, curiously, Raven/Jinx relationship (not of the romantic sort) fics.

**Vignettes**

The Kiss

"It's been awhile." He murmured, as he put his arms around her waist and drew her to him. Her head fit in a nook just above his shoulder, and he pressed a cheek against her hair.

"We shouldn't." Raven said, but didn't try to pull away.

"It's just a friendly gesture. A symbol of our friendship." Beast Boy said, even though, at this moment, he knew that it wasn't. There was something more to it. He drew another breath inwards, getting her heady scent of lavender and all things dark.

Raven closed her eyes as he held her, but his warmth and his embrace were too comforting, and she drew away from him, increasing her distance from him as he gazed at her with a forlorn expression from his empty arms.

Sadness should not have been reflected in his eyes, Raven thought as she shook her head to clear it. But, the world was getting fuzzier to her now—had been ever since he had pulled her into his arms in the first place. In a minute she wouldn't be able to think straight.

"This is too much." She said, in a voice that had a dream-like quality to it. Beast Boy took a step towards her, and she backed away.

"Too much what?"

"We can't...we can't be like that." Raven mumbled as he continued his journey to her. "We both know what happened last time. It won't work."

Beast Boy sounded a bit desperate now as he closed the gap between them. Raven backed away straight into the wall. "Why not?"

He was too close, Raven noted, and they were barely half a foot away from each other. "Our arguments, our fights...don't you remember any of that?"

"Yes."

He was still approaching her. There was barely any space between them now. Raven wanted to relax into him, but managed to maintain control. Raven lowered her eyes as he pressed against her and whispered, "We weren't happy."

She hazarded a look into his face, and saw anger amongst other things flicker in his eyes.

"No, Raven." His voice was harder now. Strained. "_You_ weren't happy. You told me so. And, I couldn't bear to make you unhappy, so being the fool I was...I left."

"There. You left. That was the end of us." Raven shut her eyes, as his face came close to hers. Beast Boy tilted her chin up.

"But, Raven...you lied."

And, he closed the distance between them, sealing his words with a meeting of the mouths.

She sighed, pangs of guilt and pleasure twisting simultaneously through her gut. He pulled away her from mouth and planted several kisses along the line of her jaw and nuzzled his mouth along the right side her neck.

"Why would you lie?" Beast Boy panted between kisses. His eyes were half-closed and heavy-lidded, and his voice had dropped an octave and had become very gruff.

"Hm?" She only closed her eyes, angling her head more properly and pressing herself against him.

"Why?" He asked again, more insistently. Or, at least, it felt more insistent. Maybe it was the fact that he had picked up the infuriating habit of kissing around her mouth instead of on it.

She made an impatient noise, and this caused Beast Boy to pull away from her quickly and put her at arms' length. She looked startled for a moment then sobered, touching her fingers to her mouth and giving him a wide-eyed frightened look.

"We shouldn't have..." She began, but couldn't find any words.

"There are a lot of things we shouldn't have done, Raven."


	2. Part 2: Cling and Clatter

Title: Vignettes

Genre: General

Pairings: None

Rating: PG-13

Summary: A series of one-shot photographs of relationships between the Teen Titans. Jinx and Raven have a heart-to-heart…or something.

Disclaimer: Don't own the Teen Titans.

Author's Notes: Just randomness. With all the spotlight seeming to turn to Bumblebee as Cyborg's love interest, I always kind of wondered…what happened to Jinx? Rated for language. Incomplete and unrevised. But, in general, all my vignettes will be.

Part 2

Cling and Clatter

There was an ominous thud a few seconds after the doors crashed closed, and the light that had come between the crack of the two doors flickered and died, blanketing the two girls in darkness. Both girls stopped their antics, and Raven took the moment to leap away from her opponent onto free space she sensed in the darkness.

She sensed Jinx do the same.

"Shit." Raven heard the other girl say. The Titan heard footsteps frantically run the length of the space, pacing back and forth twice before falling silent. "We can't be…"

"We're trapped." Raven let her head roll against the metallic wall she was leaning against and closed her eyes, 'searching' the confines of the space while remaining wary of what the other inhabitant of the room was doing.

Allowing Jinx only a minute part of her attention, Raven sensed the only exit to the room they were in was the one that had just closed. Since they were trapped in an area reserved by the military only for testing or destroying radioactive weapons, Raven assumed the doors would be more sturdy than usual, maybe even too much of a challenge for two super-hero teenagers to handle.

Raven's attention snapped to Jinx when she felt magic well-up from the girl's direction, and all at once she sat tense, waiting for some sign of attack.

Instead, there was just noise.

CLINK. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. CLANG.

Raven hard the sound of something akin to a pipe being hurled from someone's hands.

"Shit!"

Raven lifted her head after a full minute of profanity from the other girl and snapped, "That's a wonderful idea. Since we're trapped, we may as well make racket while we're at it."

There was a pause, and Raven sensed annoyance well up from somewhere to her right.

"I'm trying to find a way out. Or at least, trying to get someone to hear me."

"Well, it doesn't seem to be working, does it?"

"Unless you really enjoy being here with me, I don't see you doing anything."

"I'm thinking, which is more than I can say for you."

"Tell me, Raven, are you always this bad-tempered?"

"…yes."

Reluctant amusement wafted from Jinx's direction, and in an effort to hide it, Jinx retorted, "For all your thinking, I'm not hearing any bright ideas. Aren't you able to move it or something?"

Raven paused, then admitted, "That would take a little more power than I have at the moment."

More amusement. This time, laced with haughtiness. "Tired already? Not enough energy left to open a door?"

"Not enough energy." Raven replied patiently, responding more to Jinx's projected emotions than her taunt. "But, at least, I'm not powerless enough that I've resorted to using a pipe to knock over a door reinforced several times with steel."

Jinx didn't say anything.

"We're powerless inside a room meant to keep power to itself." Raven mused.

"Do you have an idea?"

"Sit here and braid each other's hair?"

"And, I thought you were smart."

Raven shrugged, though she knew the sorceress wouldn't see it. "It's not worth it to me to break out. I'm infinitely patient—" (she could almost see Beast Boy's smirk at this statement) "—and this room manages to hold you captive without any effort on my part. Once my teammates search for me, they'll be enough of us to overpower you, and we can send you off to jail."

"What if my teammates defeat yours?"

"And, when was the last time that happened?"

Jinx blushed. "What if I try to kill you in the meantime?"

"With a pipe?" Raven asked, amused. "I can 'see' you in the darkness. I don't think you have the same luxury with me."

Pink light flickered and promptly died somewhere to her left. Jinx let out a small chuckle, and then there was silence between them.

"Your last attack did surprise me." Jinx replied, by way of excuse for her lack of power.

"Thanks."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I decided to take it was one." Raven paused and, feeling she should say something added, "You're getting better."

"Thanks."

They sat in silence for a half hour. Raven was accustomed to both darkness and quiet, but the sudden lapse in banter between them did not pass well for the empath.

It was probably a combination of the darkness and lack of battle action, but Jinx's thoughts had, inevitably, turned inward, and Jinx was radiating emotions Raven had never detected from her before. Feelings of affection and caring mixed heavily with betrayal and hesitation.

Inundated with such feeling, Raven felt strangely relieved when the silence was suddenly broken.

"I don't want to see him." Jinx said with some difficulty.

Raven already knew of whom she was talking. "He'll probably be one of the ones to open the door."

There was a pregnant pause, and then, a meek, "He always talked about you at…the academy."

"He certainly wasn't supposed to." Raven snapped.

Jinx, of course, rushed to defend him. "I didn't put two and two together at the time. Later, though…. It was obvious. I should have known."

"You weren't supposed to have known."

"He told me he had four really wonderful friends. One was really headstrong but confident and reliable. One was really goofy but honest and heartfelt. One was very absentminded but earnest and optimistic." She paused.

"And?"

"He said that one of his friends was just short and grumpy."

"Good. My reputation is saved."

"But more caring than she'd admit."

"Damn."

"He missed you. Even when he was with us." Jinx stopped, more uncertain. Raven imagined she felt vulnerable, and for a moment, Raven reneged on the years of enmity with the HIVE graduate and felt bad for the girl.

It was a horrible thing to first be betrayed by someone you were certain of, someone you cared about and second, to be guaranteed never to see them again to work things over. Raven hated sensing the feeling as much as she hated the emotions themselves.

Almost painfully, Jinx asked the question, "Does he…does he remember me?"

Raven remembered the Titans asking Cyborg about Jinx later on, when they had confiscated his school books from HIVE academy and saw loose pictures of him and Jinx dancing (among others of him spending time with the sorceress, Gizmo and Mammoth).

The mechanical man had shrugged it off at the time. Said Jinx and he had become friends, somewhat. Almost friends. Could have been. Except for the fact that the principal of her school had wanted to destroy Jump City. Except for that.

Almost friends, but enemies, he had said. And, Raven was the only Titan who heard the imperceptible wistfulness in his voice and who saw him hide _the_ picture carefully somewhere on his person.

"He pretends not to." Raven replied, not even attempting to explain more than that. She was trying her best to tell Jinx what she craved to hear without betraying one of her best friends by telling their enemy what she had read in between the lines.

Jinx wasn't satisfied with that, but couldn't bring herself to ask or say anything more.

They had a fragile trust, borne of the darkness and of the restlessness that came with waiting to be rescued (or jailed, in Jinx's case), and since Jinx knew they were enemies when it really mattered, Jinx could only ask so much.

There was the groan of metallic parts, then the doors opened carefully and painfully. Raven's rescuing wasn't dramatic or theatric, just slow. As soon as the doors had opened to the maximum, Raven viewed the events outside.

Both HIVE and the Titans were still battling, and the pair who had come to Raven and Jinx's rescue was a combination of Gizmo and Robin, who were fighting around the control panel, and had managed to open the doors completely by accident.

Raven sighed, and turned to Jinx.

They gave each other a last look, and without a word, rejoined the fray.


	3. Part 3: Crush

Title: Vignettes

Genre: General

Pairings: None

Rating: PG-13

Summary: A series of one-shot photographs of relationships between the Teen Titans. Beast Boy has his daily visit with our favorite purple-haired Titan.

Disclaimer: Don't own the Teen Titans.

Author's Notes: It's finals week. Of course, I update. Of course.

Part 3  
Crush

Beast Boy and Raven were notorious in the Tower for picking fights with the other, but that really only happened on bad days. Most of the other times, they were quite civil with each other, and on really good days, they could even be termed 'friendly'.

Either way, Beast Boy had taken to wandering into Raven's room at 2:45 in the afternoon every day, padding across her unusually plush carpet (it was probably fluffier because she levitated everywhere) and flopping onto her very comfortable bed (violet silk sheets were the best).

After this was accomplished, he usually launched into a monologue about everything he'd done that day which always somehow included hitting on a girl or the same girl from the day prior, depending on how lucky he was.

He had to hand Raven some credit. Though boredom was plain on her face, she listened to his monologues, and after the first two weeks of his visits, she even managed an interested stare or a relevant nod or sigh every time he paused.

Sometimes, he'd stop in the middle of his monologue and ask a question of her, but since he mostly got one-word answers, he'd simply continued his monologue.

Today, she interrupted him.

"What?" He eloquently said, after she'd interjected with something of her own.

"Why do you care?"

"About what?"

"What you were just talking about." Raven replied, pulling away from her desk and giving him a deadpan look. "Why do you care about what Paige said to you if you don't like her?"

He wasn't used to her talking with him. "You listen to me?"

"I try not to." Raven replied, and Beast Boy decided to take this as a joke.

"I care because I could like Paige."

"You could also like Lana or Janie or Brit. Why care about people you could like when you can care about people you do like?"

It was sound logic, Beast Boy guessed, but he didn't really know what to say to that. Instead, he shrugged.

"I mean, at this point, you may not like anybody, but why waste time on girls who obviously don't interest you when you can waste time on finding girls who do?"

"It's funny you call looking for true love, 'wasting time'." Beast Boy pointed out. "And, as a matter of fact, they do interest me."

"You're bored with them."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. You project boredom when you talk about them."

"Are you sure I'm bored or are you just projecting your own boredom because you're listening to me?" Beast Boy countered, feeling proud of himself, though he felt that his argument might be somewhat amiss.

"I don't get bored with you talking."

"Oh."

"I just get bored with the subject matter." She added, agitated. "Every day, you come into my room and jabber for fifteen minutes about all the girls you've flirted with that day."

"You haven't complained." He said, sullenly.

"And every day, you come in saying you've found your new true love or whatever, except your 'one true love' changes every other day. I wish you'd stick with one girl you just talk to consistently."

Beast Boy chuckled at the irony. "I talk to _you_ every day, Raven. Maybe you're really my true love, and we just don't know it."

The unreadable expression on Raven's face told Beast Boy that she didn't find it amusing, and Beast Boy felt it was a good time to leave.

"Same time tomorrow?" He asked, out of habit.

Raven gave an accepting growl (which sounded more threatening than usual), and Beast Boy sauntered out of the room.


	4. Part 4: Heartbroken

Title: Vignettes

Genre: General/Angst

Pairing: None…well, Raven/Melchior perhaps and then maybe Raven/Beast Boy

Summary: Raven reflects on her feelings in the aftermath of "Spellbound."

Disclaimer: Raven and the Teen Titans are not owned by me.

Author's Notes: I considered making this a song-fic to the song "Sway" sung by Bic Runga, but the lyrics interrupted the flow of the story, so I decided not to. But, I did listen to "Sway" while writing it, and I think both the tone and lyrics of the music match the mood of the speaker.

I realize there are so many stories out there with this same premise, but I think that's because the show kind of hurried through any sort of satisfying conclusion concerning Raven's thoughts. Plus, the ending to this episode gives Raven/BB shippers hope, and I know I was upset that the Raven/BB moment was cut off (with a sock ball, no less!). But, just to note, it's not really the Rae/BB thing I'm addressing here. Oh, and another thing, I don't actually remember how the ending dialogue between BB/Rae went, so I made it up. If it happens to be what happened in the cartoon, then that's great.

As always, REVIEWS and CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM welcome.

Part 4

Heartbroken

It had been too perfect an offer, and in her haste to obtain the love and acceptance she desperately craved, Raven had blinded herself.

And, so, for the first few weeks after her rather bitter "break-up" with Melchior, the emotion Raven felt most was not despair or anger or emptiness…but the far-more-dreaded feeling of stupidity.

Not that Raven_ didn't_ feel despair or anger or emptiness—oh, those she definitely felt—but whenever she felt any of these emotions, it inevitably led to Raven feeling stupid.

Stupid.

_Do you promise you'll still be here when I wake up?_

STUPID.

_You don't want to be alone. _

_No. _

**STUPID.**

_I don't want to be alone_.

Poor blind Raven. Poor lovesick blind Raven.

Poor, lovesick, blind, stupid, CREEPY Raven.

How daft she had been to take something _Beast Boy _had said so personally.

How Melchior must have laughed at her, and how incredibly foolish she felt knowing that he had been able to find so easily her greatest weakness and her deepest insecurity.

And, yet, their relationship had started out as a beautiful thing.

_I wish there was just someone around here who understood that I was different. Someone I could talk to. Someone just like me_.

And, he had answered her desperate prayer with a promise that he was the same as she. That he was someone to confide in. That he was the one who would deliver her from her loneliness just as she would be the only one to deliver him from his.

To be wanted and accepted by somebody. To be needed.

Oh, he made her feel wanted and loved, and that belief in his want of her allowed him to manipulate her.

No one manipulated Raven of Azarath.

And, since he had, that just made Raven stupid.

Stupid and selfish.

Selfish.

Her love and reliance on him had made her selfish. Even when he had taken over the Tower and tried destroying everything in sight, all Raven's thoughts had been were not at how her stupidity had endangered her friends or city but how her stupidity had jeopardized herself and her emotions.

And, the thought that, in the midst of her mistake, all she had thought about was herself made her feel…well, like an egotistical idiot.

Selfish and empty.

Empty, empty, empty.

Empty room, empty life, empty heart.

A knock at the door jolted her into reality.

"Raven?"

Another knock.

"It's me."

Raven rolled her eyes. Only Beast Boy would be so pompous as to knock anonymously on her door and introduce himself simply as "me". She rose from her position on the bed, but stopped a few steps from the door and considered the option of ignoring him.

The knocking stopped, replaced by a moment of silence, and then:

"Look, I'm sorry…"

Raven couldn't stop herself. "Sorry for what? You're not the one who…"

"No." Beast Boy interrupted. Raven snorted. "I'm sorry that he…that he broke your heart."

Beast Boy waited patiently for her reply, but when nothing came, he started to turn away from the door dejectedly.

Beast Boy sighed as he waited another few moments. He understood Raven's pain; at least, he could relate to it. And, so he had come with the intention of saying something, anything to let her know that he understood how she felt, that she was not the only one with those feelings of hurt and pain and rejection inside her.

And now…

He said what he came to say, and now it was time to leave. He only hoped Raven would get his meaning.

Before he could even take a step away, the door slid open.

In what seemed a surreal moment, she flung her arms around the green shape-shifter.

"I know it was a lie, but he was the only one who made me feel that I wasn't creepy…" Raven admitted, feeling childish. She tried to figure out some way to compensate for her awkwardness. "…and don't try to tell me that I'm not creepy."

"Okay…"

A/N: Anyway, as I've said before, I really would like to improve and shape my writing style, so any REVIEWS or CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM would be great (or email me at: triandrusicewing at Thanks!

Lyrics to "Sway":

_Don't stray, don't ever go away_

_I should be much too smart for this_

_You know it gets the better of me…_

_And there's no cure, and no way to be sure  
Why everything's turned inside out  
Instilling so much doubt  
It makes me so tired - I feel so uninspired  
_

_My head is battling with my heart  
My logic has been torn apart  
And now it all turns sour  
Come sweeten every afternoon  
_

_Sometimes_

_When you and I collide_

_I fall into an ocean of you_

_Pull me out in time_

_Don't let me drown, let me down…_

_Say you'll stay, don't come and go  
Like you do  
Sway my way, yeah I need to know  
All about you  
_


	5. Part 5: Beach

Title: Vignettes

Genre: General/Romance

Pairings: Beast Boy/Raven

Rating: PG-13

Summary: A series of one-shot photographs of relationships between the Teen Titans. Chapter 5: Belated Valentine's Day Tribute.

Disclaimer: Don't own the Teen Titans.

Author's Notes: A little belated, but for Valentine's Day. And, I'm not sure if this is going to make the cut for A World Without You, but it may be something of a teaser for chapters 3 and 4. ) Thanks for reading!

Part 5

Beach

They were walking on the beach at night, watching the waves lap against the sand. A first, Raven had abandoned her boots and was walking barefoot with him (he hated wearing shoes, in the first place), and casually, he reached down to touch her hand as they wandered, leaving soggy footprints in their wake. Embarrassed by something, she scuttled away from him, her sand-prints arching away from his own.

"We haven't been talking." Beast Boy said, ignoring his rapidly numbing feet as cold water filled the sandy spaces between his toes.

"We've been busy."

"We've never been that busy." Beast Boy insisted. "It's been a week. What's wrong?"

Raven scowled darkly under her hood. "You've been busy."

"Have not." Beast Boy replied, reflexively and out of guilt since he knew he hadn't had much time to spend with her. And, for some reason, this was upsetting to him.

"Beast Boy, I wanted to let you know that…" Raven said, swallowing a lump in her throat. "It's fine that you and Terra are together, and I don't want to ruin our friendship."

"I don't want it to ruin our friendship either." Beast Boy agreed. He tried to close the gap between them, but every time he stepped to her, she stepped away. "I've been spending a lot of time with Terra."

"It's understandable."

"But, I'm here with you now." He continued. "So, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

He was at least close enough to touch her face if he extended his arm all the way, and he did so. "You just look so tired."

"I'm okay, I just…" Raven cleared her throat. "I don't want anything to ruin our friendship."

"I don't want anything—"

"Beast Boy, be quiet." Raven commanded, and he was silent. "I don't want anything to ruin our friendship, but I do have to tell you something, and even if you don't feel the same way…"

"What?"

"I love you." She said, and winced.

"I know." Beast Boy said.

"And, not the way you mean it when you tell me the same. The _other _way." Raven added, wondering if she could become any more juvenile. After a moment, she saw the realization finally dawn on his face. For several long moments after that, though, he didn't say anything, and Raven hated herself. What if things were never the same? Why the hell did she think it would have been better this way? Why did she open her mouth in the first place?

"Raven…" Beast Boy said, slowly. "I…"

And, since Raven thought then that, if she was already in trouble, she might as well heap it on in bushels, feeling edgy and maniacal in a way she rarely felt outside battles, feeling adrenaline rush through her head, pounding, she leaned forward and kissed him.

Raven kissed him in a way that certainly wasn't friendly or platonic or any of the things they were supposed to be, and for an instant, Beast Boy was disoriented, struck with some parts wonder at her and some parts disappointment at the fact that he hadn't thought of doing this with her first.

Well, that was reconcilable.

His hands wound their way down her arms, and he tangled his fingers warmly with hers, holding hands with her for a moment then twisting out of her grasp to bring his hands up again and brush the stray strands out of her face.

"You…" Beast Boy said, when she pulled away. His heart was beating so quickly, he waited for his brain to catch up with the rest of his accelerated senses. Beast Boy inhaled a breath of salty cold air, and realized his entire body was numb from it, but he really didn't mind. "Raven, you…"

"Beast Boy." She said, distancing herself from him. "I'm sorry."

Raven, never wanting to hear the disappointing words she knew he was going to say, fled from him.

And, he didn't run after her.


End file.
